Lexington's Environmental Quality Committee heard an update Tuesday on progress in the city's downtown distillery district. Business activity in the neighborhood has grown substantially over the last decade.
Developer Barry McNeese says the area off Manchester Street housed two businesses years ago, and today is home to almost 30. He says minor improvements need to be made in the district to make it more aesthetically pleasing. "When you think about things like plantings, when you think about benches or trash receptacles; there's any number of short term things that can be done to show a city cares about an area," said McNeese.
A major hydrology study will take place in 2015 to measure flooding potential along the Town Branch Creek area. The results will determine where future development should be positioned. Planning Commissioner Derek Paulsen says it will take most of next year to make firm determinations about flooding risks. "You got to have rain events to make sure the model is working," said Paulsen. "So, they're working on the modeling right now. We've got to have those rain events so that we can say yes the model works the way it does."
Future development plans for the distillery district include extending the Town Branch Trail to McConnell Springs off Old Frankfort Pike. Committee members were briefed on plans for a brewery and restaurant scheduled to open before the end of the year in the former Pepper Hill warehouse. ?
